How To Test An Electric Motor Capacitor

Capacitors are metal tubes that store an electric charge usually found near a motor in the appliance.

How to test an electric motor capacitor.

You can check to see whether a capacitor is good or bad using an ohm meter but first you have to remove the capacitor from the circuit and discharge it. A damaged or burnt out capacitor may hold only a fraction of the energy needed for the motor if its capacitance is low. Use a screwdriver to open your machine and locate the capacitor. Motor capacitors store electrical energy for the motor to use.

If you need to run a capacitor test on your system there are several safety measures that should be taken. The higher the capacitance of the capacitor the more energy it can store. This article gives a description of electric motor capacitor test procedures to determine if a capcitor is damaged or working normally test procedures to measure the capactor s capacitance or microfarads mfd or uf to determine if it is working within its rated capacitance range. This article series gives electric motor start run capacitor and hard.

A bad motor capacitor may cause starting problems or could shut off the motor while running. The capacitor stores an electrical charge and is comprised of one or more pairs of conductors separated by an insulator. Replace the capacitor if it fails the test again. How to test an electric motor capacitor.

Retest the capacitor with the meter. Run capacitors maintain a fairly consistent voltage supply and increase the torque of hvac motors at startup.